Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 KENTFIELD, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's softball team bounced back from a rough 6-1 loss to post its second shutout of the season, a 3-0 victory, in a split with Cal State East Bay on Saturday.

Dominican (3-5) junior pitcher Karly Harris struggled with her command, particularly in the second inning when she hit three batters en route to a three-run inning. The Pioneers (1-1) added runs in the fourth and sixth innings. The Lady Penguins got a run back in the bottom half of the sixth inning when Dominique Perry drove a ball to left center that plated Tori Johnson. However, Cal State East Bay got an unearned run right back in the seventh.

The Lady Penguins wasted no time in game two. Leslie Mesa hit a hard ball to short that wasn't fielded cleanly, which plated Kayleigh Klingberg, who reached base on a double to left field.

After Rachel Santiago walked to lead off the bottom of the second, Johnson hit a high pop up on the left side that dropped between three Pioneer infielders for a hit and allowed Santiago to trot home to make it 2-0.

Kayla Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fifth, then stole second. Mesa drove home her fellow infielder with a single up the middle to make it 3-0.

Freshman pitcher Ashlyn Moriarity stranded runners in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. The real test came in the sixth inning with the go-ahead run at the plate. She got designated player Chelsea Kakela, who was 3-of-6 on the day, to strikeout. Things got dicey again in the seventh inning but Mesa speared a ball, then made a heads up throw to second to turn the double play. Fittingly, Moriarity fielded a grounder back to her to close out the first victory of her college career.

In the complete game shutout, plus 1.2 innings of relief, Moriarity allowed just five hits while striking out four.

“I'm proud of how the girls bounced back after the first game. Hitters made adjustments at the plate and the defense came up big,” said Head Coach Sarah Iwata. “Ashlyn kept the ball down and got out of some jams.”

The Lady Penguins are right back at it on Sunday, Feb. 10 when Cal State East Bay hosts a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. in Hayward.